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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Gorakhpur on July 7 where he will be chief guest at the closing ceremony of the centenary year celebrations of the publishing house Gita Press.
The PM is also likely to flag off Vande Bharat train from Gorakhpur the same day besides visiting Kushinagar to lay foundation of an agriculture university.
Officials of the Gorakhpur district administration had on Thursday inspected the Gita Press premises regarding the preparations of the PM’s expected visit. “So far, only a verbal communication has been received that the PM may visit either on July 7 or 8. But the schedule will be confirmed only after receiving a written communication,” said a senior government official.
The PM’s likely visit comes in the wake of the Central government’s June 18 announcement to confer the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 on the Gita Press. The prize is an annual award instituted by the Central government in 1995 that carries an prize money of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and a traditional handicraft/handloom item. The Gita Press has refused to to accept the prize money, saying it will only accept the citations.
Gita Press managar Lalmani Tiwari confirmed that administration officials visited their campus on Thursday in connection with the PM’s likely visit.
The Gita Press started the centenary year celebrations on May 14 last year and it concluded symbolically on May 3, 2023. The publisher had invited the PM in May to address the concluding ceremony but the programme was cancelled since the model code of conduct was in force in UP following the urban local body elections.
A railway official said: “The PM is likely to flag off Vande Bharat from Gorakhpur. Information about the timing and route is not confirmed yet.”
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